Not all conquerors, dark lords, and empires tolerate halfling boroughs within their borders—when their armies come marching the wise halflings have already gone underground. Halflings rarely give up their land and will simply live under it instead. Dwarves may dig deep, but halflings are content to dig wide and stay up where the earth is still alive. Once forced underground however, a halfling warren can stretch for miles. 

Halflings almost always build warrens as an act of rebellion. Warrens run on two main commodities: root vegetables, and everything that isn’t nailed down. Many farmers tell legends of “spirit farm” ghosts that grow potatoes or turnips out in random pastures and harvest them in the middle of the night. Such tales are surefire tells that halfling warrens are about, with halflings industriously tending the crops from below. 

Everything else is filched by the tunnellers, both as a matter of survival and as recompense. Stealing from the conquerors above is seen as a civic duty to those forced to live in warrens and they’ve turned it into an art form. The surface and all its many goods represent danger, so they build as many secret bolt tunnels and passages as possible. It’s said that once a city is fully undercut, a tunnel halfing is never more than 20 feet from a bolt hole. The warrens are so insulated from the laws above that they often become a safe haven for unfortunate souls who’ll happily take a low ceiling over a cold alley or a prison cell. 

Characters raised in the tunnel halfling culture share a variety of traits in common with one another. 

Fleet of Foot. Your base Speed increases to 35 feet. 

Rebellious Tactics. You gain proficiency with one of the following skills: Acrobatics, Deception, Nature, or Stealth. 

Slippery. When you are grappled , you can use your reaction to automatically escape that grapple. Once you have used this trait, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest . 

Trained Filcher. You gain proficiency in Sleight of Hand, and you gain an expertise die when picking a pocket or otherwise taking an item without notice. 

Languages. You can speak, read, write, and sign Common and Halfling.

Gnomes are known for their unique brand of creativity which often leads to the advancement of both magic and technology. Non-gnomes that immerse themselves in this culture struggle to reach the level of craftsmanship achieved by their gnomish counterparts, but can learn to match it with enough dedication and hard work. There is rarely rivalry inside of tinker gnome communities and it’s not uncommon for tinkers to help even a direct competitor perfect a new product—though there are no promises that they won’t steal the plans for themselves afterwards. 

Characters raised in the tinker gnome culture share a variety of traits in common with one another. 

Cunning Creative. You gain proficiency with tinker’s tools, Engineering, and either Arcana or History. You gain an expertise die whenever you use them to make a check related to alchemical, magical, or technological items.

You can spend 1 hour and 10 gold worth of materials to build a variety of useful tools, all detailed below. Each device has an AC of 5 and 1 hit point, and ceases to function after 24 hours or whenever you choose to dismantle it. An hour can be spent repairing a device that has ceased to function. You can have up to three of the following devices active at one time: 

Audiophone: When started, this device plays a pre-recorded sound at a moderate volume. The device stops playing when it reaches the end of the recording, or when shut off. You can use your action to record any 1 minute of audio, and can use a bonus action to start and shut off the device. 

Clockwork Figure: This figure can be a Tiny animal, monster, or even a humanoid. When placed on the ground, you can use a bonus action to direct the figure to march up to 10 feet in a direction of your choice. You can choose to have the figure make a noise that is appropriate to the creature it represents, or to have it be silent. If you choose for the figure to be silent, you can instead equip it with a small flame that sheds dim light 5 feet in front of the figure. 

Fire Starter: When a bonus action is used to activate this device it creates a small flame that can be used to light a candle, torch, or campfire. Alternatively, you can use a bonus action to shoot a small ball of fire from the device as a ranged weapon attack with a range of 30 feet, dealing 1d6 + 1 fire damage. You are considered proficient with the fire starter. Using the device this way damages it, and it must be repaired over the course of a long rest before it can be used again. 

Sensor: This device can be attached to a wall or any smooth, sturdy surface. When placed, it begins monitoring the area around it. Choose one sort of activity to monitor: noise or movement. The device detects these things up to 30 feet around it, including through openings, but cannot sense through total cover. The device relays the information back to you telepathically, and can share either clips of sound (limited to 30 seconds at a time, with a minimum of 10 minutes in between relays) or information on the size and number of creatures moving in the area. 

Languages. You can speak, read, write, and sign Common, Gnomish, and one other language. 

With their warm hearths, verdant greenery, and low ceilings it is little surprise that boroughs (consisting of many individual burrows) are the hearts of halfling communities across the world. Halflings prefer to carve their homes from low hills, shoring up the earth as natural protection against the elements. Yet boroughs are more than a single halfling’s home—they’re communities of dozens, sometimes hundreds of halflings whose homes dot entire hillsides or rolling hilly plains. 

Living in a borough means living close to the soil. It’s rare for any stout halfling to go through a day without planting, weeding, tilling, or harvesting something. Not all boroughs start out amongst lush grasses or good loamy soil, but they all end up that way. These boroughers usually create such an abundance of food that they often grow paunchy, earning the term “stout halflings'' from their peers. Stout halflings are such fine stewards of the land that most conquering armies simply let boroughs go about their business in exchange for crop taxes. History often marches on around them, and the only change in the borough’s day-to-day life is which soldiers collect the turnips. 

While world events rarely bother a stout halfling, local events like who won the last preserves contest often do. A borough community is a constant buzz of birthdays, fairs, holidays, and any other excuse to live life to the fullest and then gossip about it the following morning. Gleeful whispers about who said and did what at yesterday’s social occasion can provide even more fun than the event itself.

It’s not only halflings that enjoy this way of life either—when outsiders are shown the warm halfling hospitality, oftentimes they don’t want to leave. These so-called “tall fellows” dig out homes of their own, albeit with higher ceilings, and are welcomed into the borough community with open arms. 

Characters raised in the stout halfling culture share a variety of traits in common with one another. 

Borough Cooking. Whenever you begin a short rest , you and up to 6 allies can each consume 1 Supply to partake in your borough cooking, gaining 1d6 temporary hit points. 

Home Gardening. You gain proficiency in either Animal Handling or Nature. 

Memoirist. You gain proficiency with calligrapher’s supplies. In addition, you can gain an expertise die on Intelligence checks to recall details about past events you took part in by first checking your journals. 

Languages. You can speak, read, write, and sign Common, Halfling, and one other language. 

Civilizations can thrive without developing metallurgy, either by choice or because they live in stone-age cultures. Those from such societies are known as the stoneworthy. They are often adaptable and tenacious, with skills well-suited for adventuring.

Characters raised in the stoneworthy culture share a variety of traits in common with one another. 

Focused Patience. Once between long rests, you can do one of the following:

Concentrate: You gain an expertise die on a Constitution saving throw made to maintain concentration .

Persist: You may reattempt a failed ability check.

Natural Barterer. You are used to handling transactions without currency, and can appraise the relative worth of many items. When bartering, haggling, or negotiating an exchange of goods, you gain an expertise die on Intimidation and Persuasion checks, and you may always choose which ability score to use for these rolls (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma).

Natural Survivalist. You gain proficiency in Survival.

Temporary Expert. You pick up new skills quickly. Each time you gain a level, you may choose to lose proficiency in one skill or tool and gain proficiency in a different skill or tool in its place. You cannot trade a skill proficiency for a tool proficiency, and vice versa.

Versatile Crafter. You may spend 4 hours between long rests crafting one non-metal tool or simple weapon, or five pieces of ammunition, provided you have access to the materials needed and the final cost of the items does not exceed 5 gold.

Languages. You can speak, read, write, and sign Common and one other language.

There are some responsibilities even among orcs that require a cool head and tempered disposition. The most sacred places in orcish lore are called “stoic landings”, places where heroes rose or fell, or where gods wept or laughed. These stoic landings demand reverence, rite, tradition, and rituals to be observed and carried out faithfully. As many orcs lack the patience needed, the ancient orcish shamans found a solution: a rite called “the quelling.” 

Adolescent orcs take up the quelling rite by tattooing sacred symbols at strategic points of their body to block energy and then imbibing a secret herbal concoction known only as “quell.” Once the rite is complete the young orc is reborn a “stoic”, bereft of passion and utterly focused on the tasks at hand. Stoics are regarded as highly as any priest or shaman, honored for sacrificing the passions and joys of orcish existence to better serve the people. 

The quelling ritual is not without risk, as a rare few who undergo it have the opposite reaction. The subject’s emotions are increased tenfold, converting them into little more than beasts that are bereft of thought and enslaved by their feelings. These unfortunate souls tend to run off screaming into the wilderness, and cautious stories of the “dire orcs” are told around campfires far and wide. 

It is not only orcs who take up the stoic mantle. For the traumatized, the brokenhearted, those beaten and battered by wars and hardships, years of emotionlessness can seem like a lifeline. Gray-robed humans, dwarves, elves, and any number of non-orc stoics stride along the stoic landings keeping the fires lit, untroubled with the lives they had before. 

The quelling rite is not perfect and all stoics eventually go through what they call “the reawakening”. It can take decades, but the old emotions and passions slowly and often painfully reemerge. Reawoken stoics are blessed reverently but are ultimately sent away. The quelling cannot be repeated, and even if it could, they’ve done their service and will be welcomed back into their tribes like wounded warriors, left to nurse emotional scars untreated for decades. 

Characters raised in the stoic culture share a variety of traits in common with one another. 

Clarity of Mind. You have advantage on saving throws made to resist being charmed or frightened . 

Stoic Traditions.The stoic landings have much to teach and you had the patience to learn. You gain proficiency with one of the following skills: Arcana, History, Insight, Medicine, Nature, or Religion. 

Ritualistic Focus. Many of the stoic rituals you learned have broader arcane applications. You know two 1st-level spells of your choice. These spells must have the ritual tag and you may only cast them as rituals. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. In addition, you may cast other spells you learn as rituals if those spells have the ritual tag. 

Languages. You can speak, read, write, and sign Common and Orc.

In a world where magic abounds and the need for mechanical wizardry is minimal, there are still some brave minds who believe in experimentation, knowledge, and reason. One such people are the so-called steamforged—talented engineers who value science and social progress. Steamforged lands are usually the most technologically advanced in a region, pioneering mechanical devices that range from gas lamps to flintlock pistols and steam trains.

Steamforged societies can today be found all over the world. For some, it is a natural evolution of learning and technology; for others, their culture originates in lands of dead magic. As a people of science they reject superstition and do not feel much personal need for religion or faith. In fact, there is considerable resentment against magic and religion, which they believe provoke prejudice and stymie the love of learning. That’s not to say that steamforged can’t embrace individual faith, but most prefer to move on from old institutions, and look towards the leaders of scholarship and industry for guidance. They value education as the right of all people regardless of any social rank, and in steamforged cities the government-funded schools are open to everyone—even foreigners. Public education is essential for advancing science, commerce, and democratic governance, all of which steamforged value. 

Steamforged can expect a polarized response as they travel through other countries. When steamforged abjure faith in the gods it raises suspicion in people unfamiliar with their philosophy. Pious folk worry that nonbelievers anger the gods and spirits. Magic users worry they may catch some antimagic disease from people raised in a dead magic zone. But in all communities, there’s at least someone who finds steamforged folk fascinating for their novelty and forward-thinking. 

Characters raised in the steamforged culture share a variety of traits in common with one another. 

Mind Like a Steel Trap. You have proficiency in either History, Investigation, or Nature, and you gain an expertise die on checks made using the chosen skill.

Tech Savvy. You have proficiency with tinker’s tools and Engineering, plus one other artisan’s tool of your choice. 

War Scholar. Even combat is a scholarly discipline for your people. Choose one of the following:

Student of Martial Arts: When you replace an attack or use an action to Disarm, Grapple , Overrun, Shove, or Tumble, you gain an expertise die . 

Student of Martial Science: Choose one 1st degree combat maneuver from any tradition. You can use this combat maneuver once without spending exertion. You cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest .

Languages. You can speak, read, write, and sign in Common and one other language.

Whereas most elf cultures focus on light and the immanence of life, the shadow elves—also known as dark elves or drow—contemplate the nature of death and destruction, and they draw inspiration and comfort from the darkness. Although other elf cultures often consider them heretical, shadow elves are creatures of twilight, and it is only natural that some turn towards the day and others towards the night. The traditional shadow elf religion is to worship the elvish moon god, although there are also animistic traditions which venerate creatures favored by assassins (such as scorpions, snakes, spiders, and even the undead). Shadow elves do not view the darkness as being inherently evil, although they recognize that the most vile monsters do prefer the darkness—for shadow elves, it provides forms of freedom and wisdom which are unavailable in the oppressive light. 

Shadow elves tend to live in places which normally strike fear into the hearts of other mortals such as deserts, scorched lands near a volcano, haunted territories, notorious slums, and underground caverns. This is partially intentional because these places are ideal for contemplating destruction, but the “choice” is also often the result of ostracization and banishment by would-be neighbors. 

Of all elvish cultures, shadow elves are the most likely to offer their services to other peoples. They and people trained in their ways make some of the most cunning assassins, advisors, mercenaries, and spies—and having such a person in one’s entourage is often a mark of pride among the rich and famous. 

Characters raised in the shadow elf culture share a variety of traits in common with one another. 

Umbral Acclimation. Prolonged exposure to sheer darkness has improved your ability to see without light. The range of your darkvision increases to 120 feet. If you didn’t have darkvision already, you gain darkvision to a range of 60 feet.

Shadow Elf Weapon Training. You have proficiency with rapiers and hand crossbows. 

Shadow Lore. You know a cantrip: either dancing lights or minor illusion . Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast faerie fire once per long rest . At 5th level, you can cast darkness once per long rest. You don’t need material components for these spells, and when casting them your spellcasting ability is Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma (whichever is highest).

Languages. You can read, speak, write, and sign Common, Elvish, and Undercommon. 

Settlers live at the farthest reaches of their empire, upon shores their nation’s tendrils have not quite fully grasped. They live alone or in communities on the frontier, land that not long ago was merely empty space on the map—though those already living there rarely see it that way. 

Though settlers may claim uninhabited land, it’s rare for any region even remotely livable to be truly unclaimed. Armies or disasters may have swept those previous inhabitants away, or they might be right across the hastily crafted walls, wondering what these strange newcomers are up to. It’s a life of conflict, either fighting against the elements or rival claims on the same patch of land. But they shoulder their burdens and fight their fights anyway, always working towards a promise of a brighter future. A settler has the chance to carve out a piece of the world to call their own. Often the opportunities are slim back home, and the chance to forge one’s own destiny is all it takes. 

Ambition often drives settlers towards colonization. Settlers of all shapes and sizes can leave their homeland in search of fortune and independence, to varying degrees of success. Some settlers thrive while whole colonies go quiet and disappear. While this is a life uncertain and fraught with danger, the drive to build a future lures numerous people into the unknown. 

Characters raised in the settler culture share a variety of traits in common with one another. 

Claim Staker. A tall fence and the grit to defend it is often all it takes to stake a claim out on the frontier. Whenever you begin a long rest , you can choose to spend the first hour of that rest making the area into a fortified position for the duration. While resting in a fortified position, the ground in a 60-foot radius area around you is considered difficult terrain for any creatures other than those you consider allies. In addition, the first time a hidden creature enters the fortified area, it must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 + your Wisdom modifier + your proficiency bonus). On a failed save, the creature inadvertently makes loud noises and is no longer hidden. 

Frontier Survival. You are proficient in the Insight and Survival skills. 

Strange Forager. You gain an expertise die on any check made to determine if something is poisonous. 

Languages. You can speak, read, sign, and write Common, and two additional languages. 

There is no one nomadic culture. Most nomadic groups migrate along plains and steppes, following good weather and pasturage for their herd animals. Some groups walk countless miles alongside their cattle or seek peaceful travel, while others train steeds which are the envy of the world, or expect every adult among them to raid the herds of rivals and defend their own. There are nomads that travel within other communities and those that live outside the borders of settled lands but in either case nomads often find themselves in conflict with farmer folk, who desire the same lands that they use. The words “barbarians,” “savages,” and “hordes” are common pejoratives used by townsfolk and cityfolk for their itinerant land rivals. 

Nomadic groups are often close-knit, behaving much like a large family even when they aren’t actually related. They’re happy to accept strangers in their midst. The only qualifications are an ability to keep up with the group and an understanding of animals because they are among the most skilled animal handlers in the land. Whenever they can be swayed away from their group, they are almost often hired as animal trainers, drivers, or elite cavalry.

Characters raised in this culture share the following traits: 

Nature Minded. You are proficient in Animal Handling and Survival, and either Medicine, Nature, or Perception. 

On the Road Again. You are proficient with land vehicles and tinker’s tools. You can use tinker’s tools to repair a land vehicle you a land vehicle you have traveled in for at least 1 month, and gain an expertise die on any checks made to do so. Additionally, you gain an expertise die on checks made to control or navigate a land vehicle. 

Sense Weather. After observing an outside area for 1 minute, you can predict the weather within the next 24 hours. You cannot foresee magical changes, but you can use an action to make an Insight or Perception check to notice them. 

Languages. You can speak, read, write, and sign Common and two additional languages. 

Every denizen of a halfling borough has the odd impulse to drop their trowels and dig into the soil with their bare hands, rip off their stuffy clothes and shout at the sky. These urges are usually rejected out of hand, but the mustbairns know better. 

Halflings in mustbairn clans have rejected any notion of control and embraced their roles as children of the soil: wardens of the earth but not its masters. Oddly, most mustbairn clans were founded more recently than their “civilized” borough counterparts. Many are former boroughers themselves, with tattered scraps of their suits or overalls worked into their clan coverings. 

Each mustbairn clan begins with “the whisper,” a moment in which one or more halflings claim they hear the earth speaking to them. It whispers that life was not meant to grow in orderly rows: why not let it grow as it will? It whispers that life could be simple again: why not live as you will? Whether it’s a madness or a divine call, many boroughs have collapsed in the last few centuries, abandoned and overgrown, lost to the whisper. 

While mustbairns may lose the trappings of civilization, they never lose their sense of community. A tribe of mustbairns shares what wisdoms the earth has taught them. Besides simply surviving off the land, most mustbairn tribes feel led to dismantle establishment and derail “progress”. It’s common for mustbairn tribes to storm sites of industry and devastate them before disappearing back into the wilderness. They particularly seek out and destroy mining operations that cut deeply into the earth. It’s not uncommon to see non-halflings alongside them, trying their best to listen to the earth’s will. 

Characters raised in the mustbairn culture share a variety of traits in common with one another. 

Child of the Soil. You can feel the heartbeat of the soil through the soles of your feet. You ignore difficult terrain caused by any form of earth or soil, such as mud, or mountainous terrain. In addition, you know the druidcraft cantrip. 

Earthspeak. You can attempt to divine the earth’s wisdom (as the augury spell) by submerging your feet or hands into mud or soil. Once you divine the earth’s wisdom in this way, you can’t use this trait again until after you finish a long rest . 

Wild and Unshackled. Mustbairns have embraced everything that law and order works against, and have learned to live freely amongst nature. You have the Chaotic alignment for the purposes of any spell or ability that would detect or effect Chaotic creatures. In addition, you gain proficiency with two of the following skills: Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Nature, Religion, or Survival. 

Languages. You can speak, read, sign, and write Common, Halfling, and Terran.